Chapter 10 vocab

Bernard of Clairvaux

Emphasized role of faith in preference to logic; stressed importance of mystical union with God; successfully challenged Abelard and had him driven from the universities.

Black Death

Plague that struck Europe in 14th century; significantly reduced Europe's population; affected social structure.

Canterbury Tales

Written by Geoffrey Chaucer; A group of pilgrims making the journey from Southwark to Canterbury and the tales they tell to amuse each other.

Carolingians

Royal house of Franks after 8th century until their replacement in 10th century.

Charlemagne

Carolingian monarch who established substantial empire in France and Germany c. 800; Charles the great

Charles Martel

(The Hammer) mayor of the palace of the eastern Franks from 715 to 741.

Clovis

Early Frankish king; converted Franks to Christianity C. 496; allowed establishment of Frankish kingdom.

Feudalism

Social, economic, and political systemprevalent in medieval Europe from the 9^th-15^th centuries; medieval system where land was own by lords who granted it to vassals in exchange for service and loyalty.

Gothic

An architectural style developed during the Middle Ages in western Europe; featured pointed arches and flying buttresses as external supports on main walls.

Gregory VII

Pope during the 11th century who attempted to free Church from interference of feudal lords; quarreled with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV over practice of lay investiture.

Guilds

Sworn associations of people in the same business or craft in a single city; stressed security and mutual control; limited membership, regulated apprenticeship, guaranteed good workmanship; often established franchise within cities.

Hanseatic League

An organization of cities in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance.

Holy Roman Emperors

Emperors in northern Italy and Germany following split of Charlemagne's empire; claimed title of emperor c. 10th century; failed to develop centralized monarchy in Germany.

Hundred Years War

conflict between England and France from 1337 to 1453; fought over lands England possessed in France and feudal rights versus the emerging claims of national states.

investiture

Practice of state appointment of bishops; Pope Gregory VII attempted to ban the practice of lay investiture, leading to war with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

Magna Carta

Great Charter forced upon King John of England by his barons in 1215; confirmed feudal rights over monarchical claims; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy.

Manorialism

System that described economic and political relations between landlords and their peasant laborers during the Middle Ages; involved a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations that exchanged labor or rents for access to land.

Middle Ages

The period in western European history from the decline and fall of the Roman Empire until the 15th century.

Moldboard

Heavy plow introduced in northern Europe during the Middle Ages; permitted deeper cultivation of heavier soils; a technological innovation of the medieval agricultural system.

Peter Abelard

Author of yes and no; Medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer and poet.

Scholasticism

Dominant medieval philosophical approach; so-called because of its base in the schools or universities; based on use of logic to resolve theological problems.

Serfs

Peasant agricultural laborers within the manorial system of the Middle Ages.

St. Benedict of Nursia

Founder of monasticism in what had been the western half of the Roman Empire; established Benedictine Rule in the 6th century; paralleled development of Basil's rules in Byzantine Empire.

Thomas Aquinas

Catholic theologian and saint; author of the Summa Theologiae, a comprehensive overview of Christian theology; best known for his integration of the philosophy of Aristotle into Christian faith, his view of the compatibility of reason and revelation, and his "proofs" for God's existence.

three-field system

System of agricultural cultivation by 9th century in western Europe; included one-third in spring grains, one-third fallow.

Urban II

Called First Crusade in 1095; appealed to Christians to mount military assault to free the Holy Land from the Muslims.

Vassals

Lesser lords; Members of the military elite who received land or a benefice from a lord in return for military service and loyalty.

Vikings

Seagoing Scandinavian raiders from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway who disrupted coastal areas of western Europe from the 8th to the 11th centuries.